Women indicted in Maryland deaths of children killed during alleged exorcism
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Two Maryland women have been indicted in the stabbings of four children in what authorities say the women believed was an exorcism.
Twenty-eight-year-old Zakieya Avery and 21-year-old Monifa Sanford were indicted Thursday on two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Avery's 18-month-old son and 2-year-old daughter in January at a home in Germantown, Md., outside Washington. They were also indicted on two counts of attempted first-degree murder in an attack on Avery's 5-year-old daughter and 8-year-old son.
Prosecutors have said the women told investigators they believed evil spirits moved between the bodies of the children and an exorcism was needed to drive the demons out.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Police said that if a neighbor had not called 911, the two older children might have died too.